Public Outreach

Putnam Avenue Upper School eighth-graders Liam Mahari (left) and Viviany Barbosa Brito work with project director Patricia Udomprasert during a hands-on lab.

Harvard’s ThinkSpace brings hard science to Cambridge grade schools | Harvard Gazette

November 14, 2017

Many people think seasons are caused by changing distance between the Earth and Sun, an idea that can be reinforced by misleading textbook diagrams. But that’s not the case. To help set the record straight, CfA experts designed the ThinkSpace (Thinking Spatially about the Universe) program to address long-held misconceptions about the cycle of the seasons by focusing on spatial thinking. This fall, through a collaboration with Cambridge Public Schools(CPS), they’re letting local students in on the science.... Read more about Harvard’s ThinkSpace brings hard science to Cambridge grade schools | Harvard Gazette

The Astonomy Rewind project aims to resurrect old astronomy figures, such as this 1905 image of the Orion Nebula.

Citizen scientists to rescue 150 years of cosmic images

March 24, 2017

‘Lost’ images from astronomy journals are being rediscovered through a citizen-science project that launched on 22 March — a potential boon to researchers looking for changes in the Universe. 'Astronomy Rewind' harnesses volunteers to digitize, map and make searchable observations featured in papers from journals of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) dating back to around 1850.

... Read more about Citizen scientists to rescue 150 years of cosmic images

About

Alyssa Goodman is the Robert Wheeler Willson Professor of Applied Astronomy at Harvard University, and a Research Associate of the Smithsonian Institution.  Goodman's research and teaching interests span astronomy, data visualization, and online systems for research and education.

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